Free Music for You!

No, this isn't an MP3 blog. (Not yet at least!) But the internet is a web of worldwide proportions, and there's plenty of room for even legal downloads of great quality - or at least of high weirdness.

That's kind of the driving force here: some mixture of quality and weirdness, or something. Anyway, besides the "illegal" downloading, there's also record labels and distributors... but their sites usually just offer single songs (at low bitrates) or sampler collections. Then there's Archive.org and eTree.org, but they'll take a little more explaining (like BrownTracker and the FLips Trading Hub).
So later, dudes!!

I'll shoot for bringing two sources (more or less) for interesting, free and legal, downloads - of decent chunks of music, approximately an album's worth minimum. About weekly.

[Click to Free Music ~
Sample tracks]
Approximately an album's worth? You scream out, "Not enough!" - briefly mistaking this for an infomercial taping. Be careful what you wish for. First up is some minimalist dark ambient concept stuff. Rockist snobs, fast forward. The Caretaker takes his/its name from Kubrick's The Shining, doesn't play any instruments, and obsesses on themes of memories: haunted, persistent, or forever lost...

Dusty and forgotten memories, echoes and vibrations from the past. Using as source, recordings from the 1920's and 1930's era of Ballroom music. Often painful and desolate memories, recalled and replayed from beyond the grave of our senses. In amongst this darkness lies the solace of a semi-recognisable melody or phrase, a beacon of light in this often dark and distant ocean of haunted recalled audio.

The newest, maybe best, album ("Persistent Repetition of Phrases," 2008) isn't yet available for free - newly available on vinyl through Forced Exposure! But approximately nine (~9) albums' worth can be found HERE. Six cd's are the epic "Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia," (2005). And then there's also "The Complete Digital Collection (1996-2008)," which lets you pay $25-$50 (you choose) to download pretty much everything, including the last album.

And Discogs.com just pointed me to a current-year release - again for free! Haven't listened to it, but will very soon. Free download of "Recollections from Old London Town" (2009).


[Click to Free Music ~
Sample track]
Okay, rock fans, you can come back. Did you hear about the 9 albums of dark ambient manipulations of 1920s... No? Okay, whatever. You like Hawkwind? You like Chrome? What about some noisy Floyd? Sure you do. So, how about twenty-four (24!) self-released cassettes in that same vein? Great space-rock resource Aural-Innovations hosts the ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY of the Thru Black Holes Band.

Thru Black Holes Band released 24 cassette albums between 1989 - 2004. Based in southern Ohio, the band consisted of Mike Roden, Jerry Rieger and Sug Franklin, with Sug later replaced by Bolt (Bill Rolson). The music was characterized by a brand of Space Rock and Psychedelia inspired by Hawkwind, but with the band exploring many other styles and influences.

Apparently, not much else is known about this "southern Ohio" band, so nothing to do but dive right in. I'm admittedly concerned about those later theme albums: Rasta, Old West, Halloween, Pirates?!?! So I'm starting with "Smoking Glass Wreckage of the Alien Octopus Face" from 1992 (a fertile peak of output), then working my way outward thru time. Really digging it so far!
[Note that each song is downloaded separately - drag, man.]


That oughta settle yer hash for a week or so...